Breakdown of Hoewel het obstakel groot is, overwinnen we het.
zijn
to be
groot
big
het
it
we
we (unstressed form of wij)
Questions & Answers about Hoewel het obstakel groot is, overwinnen we het.
Why is the verb is at the very end of the first part?
Because the sentence starts with hoewel (although). This is a subordinating conjunction, which is a linking word that introduces a subclause. In Dutch, these linking words push the verb to the very end of their part of the sentence. So instead of het obstakel is groot, it becomes hoewel het obstakel groot is.
Why does the second part say overwinnen we instead of we overwinnen?
This is the V2 (verb-second) rule in action! The entire first part of the sentence (Hoewel het obstakel groot is) acts as the first block of information. The verb of the main clause (overwinnen) must come in the second position, so it sits right after the comma. The subject (we) then has to move to the spot right after the verb.
Why do we use het at the end of the sentence for "it"?
The word het at the end is a pronoun referring back to the obstacle. Because obstakel is a het-word (a neuter noun), we must use het to say "it". If we were talking about a de-word, like de berg (the mountain), we would use hem (him) instead.
Is overwinnen (to overcome) a separable verb?